BOCA RATON, Fla. – A late 87th minute goal by Kiran Singh led UTSA soccer to a 1-1 draw with Florida Atlantic on Thursday night at FAU Soccer Stadium.
Facing another C-USA foe that will also be making the move to the American Athletic Conference next year, the Roadrunners drew a 1-1 tie with the Owls to make the all-time series to 1-2-3.
Hitting the road for a three-week stretch, the Roadrunners looked to open the road trip with some valuable C-USA points and they did exactly that as a draw counts for one point towards the conference standings.
"Our players did a fantastic job carrying out our game plan tonight," head coach Derek Pittman said. "Against arguably the top team in the league, our players stayed focused and resilient all the way until the end. It took a total team effort to put in a quality performance for this massive result on the road!"
Although FAU led UTSA in almost every category, the squads were even where it counted. The Owls outshot the Roadrunners by 12 shots (seven on goal) to seven shots (three on target). Florida Atlantic had a 60 percent possession advantage. The Owls had three offside calls on them, while the Roadrunners had none. Starting goalkeeper Jil Schneider recorded a season-high six saves in the match. Olivia Alvarez led the team with two shots (one on goal).
In the first half, the Owls outshot the Roadrunners by five shots to two shots. UTSA had a few opportunities with a corner kick and two good shots on net. Although FAU had some opportunities as well with three corner kicks and three shots on goal, UTSA's defensive line prevented them from scoring. Schneider recorded three saves in the first 45 minutes of action to lead the teams to a 0-0 draw at halftime.
Anna Sutter started things off on the right foot as she fired off the first shot of the second half but didn't quite find the back of the net. FAU took the 1-0 advantage in the 54th minute as a shot by Thelma Hermannsdottir made it in. The Owls recorded four shots, while the Roadrunners countered with three shots in the next 30 minutes after that.
In the 84th minute, Marlee Fray came in off the bench and made an immediate impact on the pitch. Just a few minutes later, Fray battled through the FAU defense and set up the open Kiran Singh to score the equalizer to tie the score at 1-1 in the 87th minute. In the last few minutes, the Owls recorded two more shots and earned another corner kick, but UTSA kept them away from the net, ending the match in a 1-1 draw.
UTSA's record now sits at 6-2-2 overall (1-1-1 in C-USA action), while FAU now sits at 5-3-3 overall (1-0-1 in C-USA play). The draw gives the Roadrunners one more point to have four points overall in the conference standings.
GOALS
UTSA: Kiran Singh (87')
FAU: Thelma Hermannsdottir (54')
UP NEXT
The Roadrunners head to Florida International in Miami on Sunday. Kickoff is set for 10 a.m. (CT) at FIU Soccer Stadium.
-UTSA-
